Iran’s top nuclear official warned of chaos if diplomats convened by the United Nations atomic watchdog block a motion to censure Israeli and U.S. military attacks on the Islamic Republic in June.

The Persian Gulf nation is circulating a resolution at the International Atomic Energy Agency annual general conference, which would declare that the targeting of nuclear facilities during the 12-day war a violation of international law, according to Mohammad Eslami, the head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran.

“If they want to obey the law of the jungle and the rule of coercion and force, it’ll end in chaos,” Eslami said in an interview. “But if they want to abide by international law, they need to discuss this draft resolution,” he added, speaking through a translator.

Eslami’s comments come as conflict grips the Middle East and the threat of another escalation by the U.S. or Israel looms over Tehran. On Monday, during a visit by U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio to Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised Washington’s June strikes on Iran while Rubio vowed to increase sanctions and economic pressure on the Islamic Republic.

Some 180 countries are gathered in Vienna this week for the IAEA’s annual general conference. In an unexpected move, Iran’s delegation was elected by other Middle Eastern countries to serve as vice president of the week-long meeting — a move fiercely opposed by Israel and the U.S.

The U.S. delegation said in a statement it was “dismayed” that the region backed Iran, while Israel’s representative called the decision “regrettable” and sure to backfire.

“Iran’s continued violations of its safeguards obligations represent the most serious threat to the international nonproliferation regime,” U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright said. “Iran’s persistent lack of transparency with the IAEA – and particularly Iran’s nuclear escalations – are unacceptable.”

“Iran’s nuclear weapons pathway, including all enrichment and reprocessing capabilities, must be completely dismantled,” Wright said, reflecting a much tougher approach by U.S. President Donald Trump since he returned to office and revived his “maximum pressure” strategy which involved derailing a nuclear deal with Iran in his first term.

But Iran’s backing by Arab nations shows how international politics are subtly shifting in the wake of June’s attacks and Israel’s failed effort to assassinate Hamas negotiators last week in Qatar.

Eslami dismissed Wright’s criticism of Iran’s failure to reinstate broad IAEA inspections which were interrupted by the attack. He suggested it’s up to Iran and the IAEA to draft new rules which will enable monitors to access bombed sites strewn with unexploded ordnance and chemical contamination.

“They have procedures defined to inspect in very critical conditions, but there is no provision as to how to deal with military aggression and attack,” Eslami said. “There should be a procedure defined under the war conditions for how we need to treat the situation.”

Last week, Iran took a step toward breaking the impasse with U.N. inspectors over access to its nuclear facilities, with a top-level meeting in Cairo yielding the groundwork for an eventual return of monitors — subject to additional negotiations.

Whether that agreement between Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi and the IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi is enough to forestall the re-imposition of punishing U.N. sanctions is expected to be decided over the next two weeks.

Tehran’s government is still waiting for Grossi to condemn the targeted assassination of nuclear engineers and scientists during the attack. “This as an obligation, a responsibility for the director general to condemn,” said Eslami, adding that Tehran sees “double standards” at play in the way Iran is dealt with at the IAEA.

“Countries need to vote for our draft resolution, whose ultimate goal is to prevent any future attack to nuclear facilities,” he said.

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